NEWS NRL must do more to protect Reece Walsh: Walters

Kevin Walters says the NRL must do more to protect Reece Walsh and is furious Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii received only a four-match ban for knocking the fullback unconscious during State of Origin I.

The coach confirmed Brisbane's other Origin representatives Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Selwyn Cobbo will all back up from Wednesday's match to face Cronulla on Saturday, with Tristan Sailor coming in to replace Walsh.

NSW centre Suaalii accepted a four-game suspension for the late, high shot on Walsh that forced the Maroon off the field and saw him banished before Queensland stormed to a 38-10 win in Sydney.

Walsh displayed category-one head injury symptoms and despite later passing a head injury assessment, he will miss the clash against the Sharks and also next week's match against South Sydney.

The Broncos have the bye in round 16 and then travel to Auckland to face the Warriors on June 29, only three days after Origin II in Melbourne.

Walters is confident Walsh will be fit for game two but if he is rested from the New Zealand road trip given the short turnaround, he will not play for Brisbane again until July 5 - a month on from Origin I and only a week before Suaalii finishes serving his ban.

The situation has frustrated Walters, who feels the NRL must do more to discourage players from putting illegal shots on the diminutive Broncos superstar.

"The NRL have got to protect him, that's who's got to protect him, and be harder on the suspensions," he said.

"Four weeks for what he actually did, Reece will be missing for us for four weeks.

"(A four-week ban) is not going to deter another player from coming out next time Reece plays and trying to take his head out again."

Walters noted the Origin incident marked the second time this year the Broncos would lose Walsh after an opponent flew out of the defensive line to put a hit on him.

Penrith centre Taylan May was permitted to remain afield and received no suspension over the head clash that left the 21-year-old with a facial fracture in round three.

"That's twice now and the first time he didn't even get sin-binned or not even suspended, nothing," Walters said.

Walter was tight-lipped on speculation the Blues came into Wednesday night's game with a plan to target Walsh, who was floored by NSW second-rower Liam Martin as he made the first kick of the night.

"It's not right for me to try and feel what their plan was, but I saw what their actions were and that was the first block play of the game. You make your own mind up," he said.

Walters was at least pleased to see Suaalii sent from the field for his hit.

"It was policed well on Wednesday night but I just thought they could have gone a bit harder with the suspension," he said.

"We want our great players to play and it's not about toughness because Reece is as tough as any player in the game. But four weeks for ironing a bloke out the way he did, that's not enough."

Replacement fullback Sailor is set to come into the Broncos' side after making a timely recovery from a high ankle sprain that required surgery last month.

Sailor had been expected to need between four and six weeks on the sidelines but has returned to the first-grade set-up less than a month after suffering the injury playing Queensland Cup.

"He's been in here seven days a week for the last three weeks getting it right," Walters said.

Canberra Times

 

[Super Freak]

I guess can't be too hard on Bill, he's a rookie coach and isn't navigating these things week to week. He's done an outstanding job with QLD but Walsh needs his coaches to use their platform to make things easier for him. His career will be over quickly if he keeps getting bashed like this. Love seeing Kev feed it to them and I guarantee they will be listening

Blowing up in a press conference isn't going to do shit but get him in trouble. It's not going to change anything for the next game.

Slater will handle it away from the public eye.

 

[Mustafur]

Blowing up in a press conference isn't going to do shit but get him in trouble. It's not going to change anything for the next game.

Slater will handle it away from the public eye.

yeah but conflict good, origin needs some hostility this vanilla shit has dulled it.

I liked it when Kevvie was QLD coach and refused to even name the *****, infact he still does it now.

 

[Big Del]

For me it's like the contact on kickers - it's basically been outlawed now and everyone knows it (except the contact on Walsh with his first touch on Wednesday..)

Seems that changed just after the brushing of the kickers legs weekend .
About a fortnight after the Lachlan Illias leg break .
Now it`s OK to tackle the kicker again . Saw it last round .

Even though Liam Martin didn`t wrap his arms on Reece Walsh after the 1st kick .
So Origin leniency there ?

 

[ell.d33]

SCAT 6 test (sports concussion assessment tool) is not the same as HIA. Players do it in the pre-season and they have to achieve their baseline again when they're concussed- it's what day is it? What time? and 10 random things you need to name back in order.

Walsh passed his SCAT 6, not his HIA.

Thank you appreciated

 

[Wolfie]

Yeh I also thought Slater saying nothing was a weak act. He was obviously caught in a conflict of interests being a Ch 9 employee. You’ll notice all the employees of nine said nothing damning with the exception of JT. How slater could let this go through to the keeper is beyond me.

I think the opposite tbh. He was very cold and to the point when the journo asked him about it, him not saying about what he actually felt when you could clearly tell what he was thinking said a lot.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Great article in the BT today - everyone has already been warned by the NRL about coming up out of the line to put a shot on. If you do this, you’d want to make sure you do it properly.
Also a story about Blues training: they were practising chasing bombs to pressure Walsh - someone yelling out, ““Get Walshy, the little -—.”

 

[Jedhead]

I think the opposite tbh. He was very cold and to the point when the journo asked him about it, him not saying about what he actually felt when you could clearly tell what he was thinking said a lot.

Saying nothing sometimes does mean more. In this case he was to chicken shit to say anything as it would clash with his Ch 9 duties later. He's not daft Wolfie.

 

[Wolfie]

Saying nothing sometimes does mean more. In this case he was to chicken shit to say anything as it would clash with his Ch 9 duties later. He's not daft Wolfie.

I'm pretty sure he was being a bit diplomatic, but i dont think he would be scared to speak up.

 

[BroncsFan]

Great article in the BT today - everyone has already been warned by the NRL about coming up out of the line to put a shot on. If you do this, you’d want to make sure you do it properly.
Also a story about Blues training: they were practising chasing bombs to pressure Walsh - someone yelling out, ““Get Walshy, the little -—.”

Pretty obvious what the plan was... he touched the ball 3 times and got hit illegally 3 times.

I'm glad that even though he got belted it didn't result in any long term injury (immediate long term anyway)... if Walsh had stayed on the field I have no doubt they would've at some point run through his legs on kicks not caring if they flipped him.

I'm hoping he doesn't play game 2 at this stage, but they'll pick him and then media will be all about bashing him into oblivion again... because why bother trying to defend him legally when you can just take him out and not have to deal with him at all

 

[Johnny92]

Pretty obvious what the plan was... he touched the ball 3 times and got hit illegally 3 times.

I'm glad that even though he got belted it didn't result in any long term injury (immediate long term anyway)... if Walsh had stayed on the field I have no doubt they would've at some point run through his legs on kicks not caring if they flipped him.

I'm hoping he doesn't play game 2 at this stage, but they'll pick him and then media will be all about bashing him into oblivion again... because why bother trying to defend him legally when you can just take him out and not have to deal with him at all

This is where I think Slater will come up with a plan to basically use Walsh as a decoy.
He's going to attract so much attention and QLD have dangerous players all across the park.

If Walsh or anyone gets hit, I hope the team have clear instructions to start throwing hands.

 

[Foordy]

DD has now come out swinging... He also reportedly contacted Abdo in March after the Taylon May hit.

DD said:

"We need to draw a line in the sand as a game,” Donaghy told ABC radio as the Broncos crashed to the Sharks without Walsh.

“There has been a sanction (for Suaalii) and the ref handled it well on the night, but if I draw back to earlier in the season with the incident involving Taylan May on Reece … there was no charge from that.

“I expressed my disappointment to the CEO (Abdo) and head of football (Annesley) at the time and it (an attack on Walsh) has happened again.

“I thought like everyone that it (the Suaalii incident) was a horrible tackle, you can’t sugar-coat it.

“I understand Joseph is a terrific young man and these things can happen, but the onus is on the defender and the duty of care is on him.

“It’s a challenge to not have Reece for a few weeks and he will soon go back into Origin camp … it’s something that will continue to be spoken about in the league and become more relevant off the back of this.

“(Players like Walsh) are box office and that’s why people come to the game and part with their hard earned, they want to see their stars on the field – not off it.

“We need to do more to protect the players, there’s powers-that-be and committees that look after player wellbeing, so the ball is in their court to step it up and protect them at all costs.

We need to look at the length of the sanctions.

“We need to reach a position where our players are protected on the biggest stages.”

“The point is it needs to be a big enough deterrent for (illegal) hits not to happen,” Donaghy said.

“There was an edict sent out from the NRL on outside defenders rushing in and if you don’t get it right, you face the consequences.

“My personal view is I don’t think it (Suaalii’s four-match ban) was enough, but at the same time I look at it from a club perspective, the Roosters have let a player out for Origin duty and now they don’t have him for a length of time.

“It’s between the clubs and the NRL and the committees that establish the rules to ensure our best players are on the field, week in, week out.

I don’t have all the answers myself, but from our perspective at the Broncos, I want to ensure our players are protected and our fans get to see the best players week in, week out.

“Players do get targeted – but don’t hit them in the head.”

 

[Scorchie]

Not sure that's coming out swinging but appreciate DD trying something.

You know what'd make a stand? The entire QLD team refusing to play in Melbourne.

 

[Morkel]

The more I reflect, the more 4 weeks seems bullshit. It was classed as "reckless" which we all claimed it should be, but Grade 2? It was high, it was a shoulder charge (not just an arm), and it was late. Like criminal charges, maybe they need to stack the relevant multiple charges for the one incident - ie, he cops a suspension for each of (a) high tackle, (b) shoulder charge, and (c) dangerous contact. Otherwise, in reality, he's being charged just for the high contact and not the fact it was a deliberate shoulder charge and also late.

The stacking will make for a longer suspension for something this serious and with multiple illegal factors, as opposed to just increasing the suspensions which will too heavily punish accidents etc.

 

[Foordy]

The more I reflect, the more 4 weeks seems bullshit. It was classed as "reckless" which we all claimed it should be, but Grade 2? It was high, it was a shoulder charge (not just an arm), and it was late. Like criminal charges, maybe they need to stack the relevant multiple charges for the one incident - ie, he cops a suspension for each of (a) high tackle, (b) shoulder charge, and (c) dangerous contact. Otherwise, in reality, he's being charged just for the high contact and not the fact it was a deliberate shoulder charge and also late.

The stacking will make for a longer suspension for something this serious and with multiple illegal factors, as opposed to just increasing the suspensions which will too heavily punish accidents etc.

When they made the changes to the judiciary system and the penalties, they've minimised suspensions and maximised monetary penalties.

E.g. a grade 1 shoulder charge used to be a minimum 2 week suspension ... Now it is a small fine (but swearing at a ref gets you 3 weeks)

They took an already poor system and made it much worse IMO

 

[Sproj]

and maximised monetary penalties.

I wonder whose fund this goes into…

 

[Morkel]

The money they get from fines is **** all compared to the cost to run the game. But instead of players just racking up fines, they should come with, say, 50 points. That way the second offence comes with a suspension regardless.

 

[Foordy]

The money they get from fines is **** all compared to the cost to run the game. But instead of players just racking up fines, they should come with, say, 50 points. That way the second offence comes with a suspension regardless.

Haven't they pretty much gotten rid of the point system

 

[Morkel]

Haven't they pretty much gotten rid of the point system

Well shit.